Rating: 
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: Dear Ms. Cornwell-Couldn't you think of anything NEW?! What's
happened to you? This is a literary disgrace. I'm with the other readers, no more buying a book
simply on Cornwell's name and promise of more
Scarpetta fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Cornwell has not finished Scarpetta off yet but she's trying
Review: When I first starting reading the Scarpetta novels I thought it was fairly clear what the attract was to each story: a viscous but unusual murder, or series of murders was committed, and Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Virginia, would be called in to use her forensic expertise to discover and unravel the clues. Remember that this all began after "Quincy, M.E." went off into syndication and before "C.S.I." first aired, so detective stories hinging primarily on forensic investigation and detailed medical examinations of corpses was not as prominent as it was today. Plus there was the entire sub-text of Scarpetta as an extreme competent woman who was always the target of professional jealousy and/or political intrigue. For years my main complaint about the Scarpetta novels was that they rarely provided a satisfactory sense of catharsis, especially with regards to the despicable characters who were gunning for her professionally; they never seemed to get their comeuppance. But then the novels started to link up in strange and bizarre ways, and it became clear that Kay Scarpetta was the target of a complex and intricate conspiracy. No matter what the crime, and no matter how unrelated it seemed to what had happened in the previous novels, it turned out that it was all part of this giant conspiracy. From this perspective it is not surprising that there is no true catharsis at the end of any particular novel, because in terms of the big picture there is always more fun to come. However, this leads to the key question with regards to this concerted effort to destroy Kay Scarpetta: Why is author Patricia Cornwell out to get her own creation? These novels are becoming more and more like Greek tragedies where the gods look down and laugh, and I entertain the notion of profiling Cornwell to figure out why she is destroying her character and this series. Scarpetta is no longer employed by the state of Virginia, and her character is no more prominent than any other in the novel. More importantly, she has not cooked a nice meal in a long time, which is as telling adetail about her deterioration as anything. "Blow Fly" is a rather ironic title for this novel because, as most of these reviews will attest, Cornwell is blowing it and her readers, who have lost the faith, are flying away in droves. When you get to the BIG SURPRISE REVELATION in this recent novel your honest reaction may well be (a) give me a break and (b) somebody put Scarpetta out of her misery before this insult is added to her accumulation of injuries. Even worse, what limited amount of catharsis there is in "Blow Fly" happens "off stage." For those of us who have literally been waiting years for certainly people to meet their richly deserved ends, being told about it rather than getting to enjoy the moment is yet another slap in the face from the author. My wife literally went back and reread the ending, thinking she had missed something, and, clearly, she is not alone if leaping to that conclusion. If we were talking a television series the question would be when did the Scarpetta novels "jump the shark" (the reference is to the infamous episode of "Happy Days" when Fonzie jumped the shark and fans of the series consider it all downhill from there). For many it will be the point in "Blow Fly" where the surprise revelation comes or when one of the villains gets out of an impossible situation. However, for me it was before this novel, when Lucy had a shotgun on one of the villains and left them behind in a motel room to go rescue her Aunt Kay. I knew enough to blow the person away, not just because they deserved to die, but because you do not leave a bad person alive behind you when you go off on a rescue mission. "Blow Fly" has to be the most disappointing Scarpetta novel to date and I shudder to think what is in store for the next installment, which I would say has to be the grand finale except I see from my review of "The Last Precinct" that I thought his novel would have to be the end of the Chandonne plot line. I will continue reading, not so much because I have latent masochistic tendencies, but out of a sense of narrative completeness and a commitment to the idea that you make sure the body is (truly) dead and buried before you walk away. But I take no more pleasure in the experience at this point.
Rating:
Summary: as tired as the author looks in her terrible backcover photo
Review: I loved her first few books but this one was awful. I'm tired of reading about the same old villains. Can't she think up some new ones? The title Blow Fly suggests that we might learn something interesting about time of death from the study of blow flies but no, we just hear about the same old baddies. Try a Fly for the Prosecution, a nonfiction book about time of death and flies.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I Would Have Read These Reviews Before Buying the Book!
Review: I really did NOT like this book. I'm a big fan of the Scarpetta series and was looking forward to the newest entry. However, Blow Fly is not up to Cornwell's usual standards. My main complaints:
- the use of present tense is annoying
- the short choppy chapters are probably meant to keep the book screaming along at a quick pace, but they interrupted the flow of the story
- what kind of ending was that??!?
- don't feel there was any real character development except for that of Jean-Baptiste.
- do we really need to spend the first half of the book re-capping the prior books in the series? BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!
Rating: 
Summary: That's it?
Review: Where's the ending? Did they leave out some chapters? Did she just get bored and decide to quit mid story? I love her books - this was such a disapointment.
Rating:
Summary: I see it isn't just me - P.U. this book stinks
Review: I am not even through reading this book yet and I came to Amazon to see if it was just me who doesn't like this book. I have read every single Scarpetta book and like all of you I preorder ASAP and anxiously await the new one... This is written ALL WRONG. Was not every other book written in the 1st person????? I see about 95% of the reviews are negative. Do I even bother finishing?? I don't run to pick it up or stay up all night for "just one more page" so perhaps I should throw in the towel.
Rating:
Summary: Poor contination of the Scarpetta/Chardonne ugly soap opera
Review: That we've had to wait a few years since the "Last Precinct" [skipping the wretched non-Scarpetta "Isle of Dogs" and Cornwell's non-fiction book about Jack the Ripper] made us anxious to devour Kay Scarpetta's return. Alas, Kay is little more than a bit player as first niece Lucy, as head of her own investigative firm, then a resuscitated Benton Wesley (what a rip-off!!) steal most of the scenes. Pete Marino is around for little more than overweight color; and a few Louisiana characters trying to solve a series of killings there also play minor roles. If anything, the horrible Jean-Baptiste Chardonne, back from "Black Notice" is the star. While supposedly he was blinded in his unsuccessful attack on Scarpetta, he looks out windows and reads notes, so what gives? He manages to escape from prison while on death row (seriously?!) and apparently is still at large at the end, so something tells me we haven't seen the last of him. This dark work sees Scarpetta as just a shell of her former self; dwells on Lucy as some sort of goddess; and disappoints from short chapter to short chapter (124 in all). We sensed with few pages remaining that the end would be just a brush-off -- and it was. "Blow Fly" is hardly entertaining, poorly written, uninspired, and uninteresting -- maybe the worst Scarpetta of all. For our money, we think the publishers owe the public a closer scrutiny of this author's future work and see if it really warrants publication. This one will soon go to the overprinted bin, along with Isle of Dogs, where it belongs.
Rating:
Summary: Who wrote this?
Review: Patricia Cornwell simply could not have written this book. If she did, then she's totally out of touch with her characters and their behavior. From a long-time fan, I'm recommending that she stop this farce with a ghost writer and get back to basics. Add some science back in (all of which is appallingly lacking from this book) and bring the characters back to their roots. Both Lucy and Marino keeping things from Kay? I doubt it. Until I hear that Cornwell is back on target, I'm extremely happy that Kathy Reichs is keeping her Temperance Brennan series alive and well.
Rating:
Summary: Blow Fly - Blows !!
Review: I've read every book in the Scarpetta series and as a HUGE fan I pre-ordered this book and eagerly awaited my copy. I was so excited the day it arrived and ripped open the box in anticipation. Unfortunately there is no other word to decribe this book other than - TERRIBLE. I'm almost offended that Patricia Cornwell thinks she can deliver this poorly written garbage to her loyal fan base without backlash. Patricia Cornwell should spend less time trying to uncover the secret plot to kill Princess Diana, or uncover the true identify of Jack the Ripper and focus some attention on the charector that made her the money she needs to travel the globe on her kooky quests. The only thing this irritated fan can do at this point is warn some unsupecting person (you) looking to purchase this book. Don't waste your time or money on this one. If I could return it - I would.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed!
Review: I have always been a fan of the Kay Scarpetta series and bought this book, expecting and hoping for a better read than the last few books Ms. Cornwell has written. I can only say I was really disappointed. I was expecting a Scarpetta mystery in line with the earlier ones and this one doesn't even come close. Written in the third-person, it seems impersonal and not even about the Scarpetta I used to love. Maybe it's me, but this book (along with some of her latest ones)reads like it wasn't even written by Patricia Cornwell. At least, not the author who gave us the earlier installments in this series. I'm beginning to wonder if she isn't following in the steps of James Patterson - simply placing her name on a mediocre book written by someone else.
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